Understanding Palliative Care and Hospice Care

• Many people confuse palliative care and hospice care. Medical professionals who practice palliative care focus on relief of pain, stress and other symptoms of debilitating illness. They often seek to slow the illness down rather than treat it, and often palliative care measures are taken along with curative measures. Not everyone who receives palliative care is terminally ill. Hospice care focuses on people who are terminally ill---no curative measures are taken, but medical professionals seek to make patients more comfortable during their final months.
  
  

Caring for a Loved One with a Terminal Illness

• Caring for a loved one with a terminal illness can be a rewarding---but difficult---experience. Caregivers are urged to find someone they can talk to during the process and to continue caring for themselves. Caregivers should eat healthfully, exercise and get plenty of sleep to reduce stress. They should also seek out respite care---short-term, temporary care---so they can have some time away from their terminally ill loved one.
  
  

Stages of Grief

• When a person is told they have a terminal illness, they grieve along with their family members and friends. In her 1969 book "On Death and Dying," psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross pinpointed five stages of grief that people with terminal illnesses and their loved ones go through: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Not everyone moves through all of the steps, and they may not move through them in order.
  
  

Dealing with Grief

• There are no hard and fast rules about how to deal with grief. Many people find solace by talking about what they are going through with family members, friends, therapists or support groups. Talking can also be especially helpful for the person with the terminal illness, as they search to find peace with what's happening to them. Family members, caregivers and friends of the terminally ill person often find it helpful to stay busy, but it is important not to stay busy just to avoid grieving.
  
  

Showing Support

• Friends and relatives often don't know how to show support to loved ones who are terminally ill. While you may not know exactly what to say, just being there can be a great comfort. It also helps to offer to do specific things to help terminally ill people and their caregivers. Instead of saying, "Let me know if there is anything I can do," offer specific help such as, "I am going to the grocery store today and would like to pick some things up for you as well. Is there anything on your list?"
  
  It is also important---as difficult as it may be---to let terminally ill loved ones talk about their death. That way, terminally ill people and their caregivers can grieve together.